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(Jun 18) Education funding top issue among Pennsylvania voters

By Robert Swift, Harrisburg Bureau Chief
Scranton Times-TribuneHARRISBURG — Education funding remains a top priority among Pennsylvania voters, with the deadline for passing the next state budget less than two weeks away, according to a new statewide poll released today.

Almost a third of voters (30 percent) said increasing state aid for education should be state lawmakers’ top priority, while a quarter (26 percent) said reducing local school property taxes should be, the Franklin and Marshall College poll found.

These findings correspond to results in a Franklin and Marshall poll in March, released shortly after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s first budget address.

Mr. Wolf has proposed an ambitious budget with additional spending and tax hikes, including using a portion of severance tax revenue to restore earlier cuts to public education. A hike in the state personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 3.7 percent would pay for substantial school property tax relief under Mr. Wolf’s proposal.

The emphasis on education funding is not surprising, said G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., the poll director.